BY GODWIN OBI
The crisis rocking the Kano chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) deepened on Monday with the suspension of four members of the National Assembly over alleged anti-party activities.
The affected lawmakers include Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South); Ali Madakin Gini (Dala Federal Constituency); Sani Abdullahi Rogo (Rano/Kibiya Federal Constituency) and Kabiru Alhassan Rurum (Rogo/Karaye Federal Constituency).
Kano NNPP Chairman, Hashimu Suleiman Dungurawa, announced the suspension, accusing the lawmakers of working against the NNPP’s interest despite being elected on the party’s platform.
Dungurawa said the lawmakers were granted complementary tickets during the party’s primaries but had since deviated from its principles and values.
Citing a recent incident, he noted that Senator Sumaila commissioned projects at his university in Sumaila without extending an invitation to party members, describing the action as a clear case of anti-party conduct.
He informed a committee would be set up to investigate the matter, adding that the party remained open to dialogue.
But some of the suspended lawmakers have rejected the suspension, saying the punishment would not stand.
Hon. Kabiru Rurum, representing Rano/Kibiya/Bunkure Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, on Monday rejected his suspension from the NNPP.
He described the suspension as “baseless and in contempt of court.”
“I remain a member of the NNPP,” he said.
Rurum said that he and other suspended colleagues belonged to a different NNPP faction.
“This suspension is meaningless, because our faction operates independently.
“They can only suspend members of the faction that issued it, our camp is not affiliated to them,” he said.
He accused the Kano NNPP leadership of defying legal rulings, stating that they were not legitimate party leaders.
Rurum cited a court judgment that dismissed their claims and maintained that they took him to an Abia High Court, adding that the court was yet to rule on the matter.
According to him, the party’s leadership, including its national leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was invited to Sen. Kawu Sumaila’s, (one of the affected lawmakers’) daughter’s wedding but they chose not to attend.
Also on Monday, the factional Chairman of the NNPP in Kano, Senator Mas’ud El-Jibril described the suspension of the four National Assembly members as “inconsequential.”
Reacting to the suspension, Senator El-Jibril argued that Dungurawa lacks the authority to slam disciplinary actions on members as long as he (El-Jibril) remains the authentic NNPP Chairman in Kano state.
The fact that Senator Sumaila and the three others are no longer loyal to Kwankwasiyya does not invalidate their membership in the NNPP, he said.
“Dungurawa is suspending Senator Sumaila in which capacity and as who in the party? As far as the NNPP is concerned, Dungurawa was the former Chairman, and so he lacks the power to suspend anyone, not even high-ranking members.
“For your information, Dungurawa is a member of Kwankwasiyya, an association and not a political party. How can he declare members of the NNPP suspended? I want to believe he’s joking, and perhaps he woke up from a deep slumber.
“These people do not belong to the NNPP with the fruit logo, where we belong and where I remain the authentic Chairman in Kano, so how can a stranger come out to challenge the real owner of the house? Let me simply urge the public to disregard the news,” he said.
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2025-02-24